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THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

Marvel Comics
(1984-1994)
Japanese
Manga
Other Books
and Titles
Titan Books
(2001-2010)
Club/Con
(2001-2016)
Dreamwave
(2002-2004)
Devil's Due
(2003-2007)
IDW Publishing
(2005-now)

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Transformers: All Hail Megatron: Coda

| #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | TPB |

All Hail Megatron: Coda #13

July 2009.

Letterer: Christ Mowry.

Associate Editor: Denton J. Tipton.

Editor: Andy Schmidt.

Note: the Trevor Hutchinson cover to the left is a retailer incentive.

"OLD WAYS"

Written by: Simon Furman • Art by: Don Figueroa • Colours by: James Brown

Synopsis: Ironhide is finished, the Mirage affair and an increased feeling of his own worthlessness has made him decide to leave the Autobots. Sharing a drink with Optimus, his leader tells him he respects the old Autobot too much to try and change his mind, but points he’s never been that good a judge of character, even disliking Optimus himself when they first met.

Over the course of the drink, they reminisce over that first meeting, a time Prime avoided an ambush Ironhide wanted to go straight into and an occasion where a bobby trap left them hanging off a cliff and Optimus had refused to leave him behind.

Optimus finishes the conversation by pointing out not only has Ironhide made him the leader he is, not only do other Autobots still look up to him, but that if Ironhide were to leave the army he’d be losing a good and trusted friend. This persuades Ironhide to stay.

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Ironhide, Optimus Prime, Kup, Tracks, Undertow, Brainstorm, Tempest, Motorhead, Crosshairs, Boxcar, Springer, Trypticon. [All bar Ironhide and Prime in flashback].

"UNEASY LIES THE HEAD"

Written by: Mike Costa • Art by: Chee Yang Ong • Colours by: Moose Baumann

Synopsis: Six hundred and forty light years from Earth: Astrotrain makes his way through the stars with the former Earth based Decepticons onboard. Starscream is brooding alone when Shrapnel tells him there’s news. Starscream assumes this means Megatron is dead and performs a full eulogy for their leader in front of the other Decepticons, only to be told by Soundwave the news is in fact showing a ten percent improvement. Annoyed, Starscream tries to convince Soundwave keeping Megatron alive is a waste of Energon, but Soundwave is too loyal.

Alone, Starscream considers his possibilities. Assassinating Megatron is out of the question with Soundwave watching, but he needs some way of asserting his authority before they meet up with the Decepticon forces led by Razorclaw. As he muses, he considers the Matrix, having made extensive study of it he now considers it a worthless bauble. His annoyance with the fact this is all they have to show for their occupancy of Earth almost makes him throw it out the airlock before Shrapnel enters the room and intervenes.

This gives Starscream an idea, he takes the Matrix and proclaims to the other he has unlocked its secrets and is a chosen one. This rallies them around him, but as they cheer he goes into another room and buries his head in his hands….

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Astrotrain, Shrapnel, Starscream, Reflector, Bombshell, Kickback, Blitzwing, Frenzy, Ratbat, Megatron, Soundwave, Buzzsaw.

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by inflatable dalek

All Hail Megatron: Coda #14

August 2009.

Letterer: Christ Mowry.

Editor: Denton J. Tipton.

Note: the Trevor Hutchinson cover to the left is a retailer incentive.

"REPLAY"

Written by: Shane McCarthy • Art by: Emiliano Santalucia • Colours by: Josh Burcham

Synopsis: As Sunstreaker’s brain lies dying beneath the exploded bridge, his life passes before his eyes: Successfully driving the Decepticons off a planet and being hailed as a hero before being summoned to Earth; screaming as he’s dissected by the Machination; forced to watch a Machination scientist get his end away whilst just a head; Hunter refusing to kill him and demanding they team up; brushing off Ratchet with claims he’s alright but being overwhelmed as soon as he’s alone.

Finally we pull out as the life drains from Sunstreaker’s head.

Characters Featured: Sunstreaker, Hunter, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Jazz, Swarm Corpses. [All except Sunstreaker and the Swarm are only in Sunstreaker’s head].

"REBIRTH"

Written by: Andy Schmidt • Art by: Andrew Griffith • Colours by: Josh Burcham

Synopsis: On Garrus-9 Galvatron crawls out of the Solar Pool bursting with new power and knowledge.

Meanwhile Cyclonus returns to Gorlam Prime dejected and defeated, dragging the bodies of his Ark comrades to a furnace in order to destroy their bodies and end their misery with some honour, as none can survive as long in the real Universe as he can. A still functional Scourge arrives and is about to be chucked on the fire by Cyclonus when Galvatron falls out of the sky.

Galvatron quickly explains that the Darkness has merged with him in a different way to how it had with Nova Prime creating something new. He uses his powers to rejuvenate Scourge and turn the dead bodies of their comrades into new foot soldiers, though a mistake means these “Sweeps” are in Scourge’s form rather than his own. He then explains to Cyclonus he was able to survive out in reality because he was the only one who had a spark of life left in him, which Galvatron now uses to bring him fully back to life.

Galvatron then leads them all off on his special Universe changing mission, which neither Cyclonus nor Scourge understand but they’re happy to follow him.

Characters Featured: Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, Sweeps.

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by inflatable dalek

All Hail Megatron: Coda #15

September 2009.

Letterer: Christ Mowry.

Associate Editor: Andy Schmidt & Carlos Guzman.

Editor: Denton J. Tipton.

Note: the Trevor Hutchinson cover to the left is a retailer incentive.

"EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE"

Written by: Nick Roche • Art by: Nick Roche • Colours by: Kris Carter • Story Assistance by: James Roberts

Synopsis: Springer has come to Ark-17 in order to visit Kup, only to find him missing. Correctly guessing Prowl had something to do with this, Springer asks him in his own immutable style: with a punch.

Prowl however had been expecting this, finding Springer to be a fairly predictable robot. He explains that Kup has been taken to the Kimia facility, a high tech research laboratory where they’ve found a way to cure Kup of his problems using Bludgeon’s Pretender technology.

Springer is sceptical, after all that technology created barrel of laughs Thunderwing. Prowl assures him that the process has been perfected and Kup is the same as ever he was, even in appearance. What Prowl doesn’t say is that all this is part of a cunning plot on his part as he’s had enough of the wild cards directing the Autobot cause and has found a way to use Kup to get his own voice listened to without anyone noticing.

At Kimia, Kup seems perfectly back to normal, the only sign of his ordeal being a Cy-Gar that provides him with enough of the crystal radiation, to which he’d become addicted to, to keep him sane and not suffering the hallucinations that made him beat a load of Autobots to death with Outback’s arm.

As Prowl also predicted, Springer’s cynical nature gives way to his innate respect for Kup, and he agrees with Prowl the old timer should never know what really happened on the crystal planet. Kup meanwhile isn’t letting on that even a brief separation from his Cy-Gar starts giving him one-armed bandit flashbacks.

Prowl remembers his last conversation with Perceptor about the personality subroutines he “suggested” be installed in Kup. The scientist is hugely uncomfortable with the whole idea, but is slightly swayed by Prowl’s assertion that a more moderate and logical methodology needs to be adopted by the Autobots to win, and by using someone as well respected and legendary as Kup they can do this. Now when Kup speaks you won’t see Prowl’s mouth move.

Characters Featured: Springer, Prowl, Outback [Corpse, flashback], Outback’s Arm [Flashback, Hallucination], Brainstorm, Perceptor, Landmine [Flashback], Cloudburst [Flashback], Groundbreaker [Flashback], Waverider [Flashback], Kup, Ratchet [Onscreen File], Hot Rod [Onscreen File], Grimlock [Onscreen File], Bludgeon [Flashback], Scorponok [Flashback], Thunderwing [Flashback], Soundwave [Flashback], Megatron [Flashback], Starscream [Flashback].

"LOST AND FOUND"

Written by: Denton J. Tipton • Art by: Casey Coller • Colours by: Joana Lafuente

Synopsis: Autobot ship Trion: As Perceptor heals in a CR chamber [following Spotlight: Drift], the other members of Kup’s new unit enjoy a brief period of relaxation. This ends when they receive numerous Autobot bases all over the Galaxy, which are swiftly cut off leaving them out of contact and with no clue as to what’s going on.

They go to ask Perceptor for ideas, but find him fixing and rebuilding his damaged body parts to be better defended and better armed, as he has no desire to be so vulnerable again. Kup tries to talk him out of it, but Drift is all in favour of the changes as everyone has a debt to pay to someone.

Their conversation is interrupted by a distress call from Hot Rod, being chased in a one-man ship by Bludgeon and the Monstructor 6. Hot Rod crashes on a planet and is soon attacked by the Decepticons, and even when Kup’s team arrives they are still outgunned. Luckily Perceptor, who combines brains with his new big gun to take Monstructor down, saves them forcing a retreat. Kup takes Hot Rod onboard and decides to pursue as the Decepticons have a debt to pay…

Characters Featured: Blurr, Drift, Perceptor, Roadbuster, Springer, Kup, Blaster, Hot Rod, Bludgeon [Restored to normal at some point following Revelation], Bristleback, Icepick, Wildfly, Scowl, Birdbrain, Slog, Monstructor [All restored to normal following Revelation].

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by inflatable dalek

All Hail Megatron: Coda #16

October 2009.

Letterer: Christ Mowry.

Associate Editor: Denton J. Tipton & Carlos Guzman.

Editor: Andy Schmidt.

Note: the Trevor Hutchinson cover to the left is a retailer incentive.

"THE MAN OF STEEL"

Written by: Mike Costa. • Art by: Guido Guidi. • Colours by: Josh Burchan.

Synopsis:A U.S. Colonel brings two U.N. representatives to meet Spike Witwicky in a hospital, where he’s recovering from some serious injuries. Spike reveals that following the events of issue 12 he’d been both promoted and given command of his own group, with the job of hunting down any remaining Decepticons in New York as the city around them is rebuilt. After cornering Ravage in a newly constructed apartment building, he accidentally brought the roof down on both of them.

His visitors then explain that Skywatch has been brought under U.N. control and they want him as their lead field agent. He agrees, and only then do they tell him the new head of the organisation is his father.

Characters Featured: Spike, Thrust [Flashback*], Ravage [Flashback*].

Exactly what happens to these two is left vague, for the ongoing Transformers are being captured alive but that’s after Skywatch takes over. Spike’s “I got him!” in reference to Ravage would at least imply he’s dead but there’s wiggle room.

"HIDDEN"

Written by: Zander Cannon • Art by: Chee Yang Ong • Colours by: Moose Baumann

Synopsis: In the ruins of an American city, Bumblebee is alone and abandoned. Dejectedly wandering through the wreckage he’s shocked to see the humans are a bit pissed off with the Transformers and are hunting them down. Due to two Evil Soldiers mistaking a car for an alien, they set off an explosion that threatens to destroy a building with people in it. Bumblebee manages to hold up the building whilst the humans evacuate but the Evil Soldiers naturally mistake his good intentions for an attack and proceed to shoot at him. Luckily Optimus Prime, having worked out Bumblebee would be wherever humans need help, turns up and tells the humans to sod off. Which they do.

Characters Featured: Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Hound, Jazz, Ratchet.

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by inflatable dalek

All Hail Megatron: Volume 4 TPB

Amazon estimate January 2010.

$17.99 list price.

Publisher solicitation: It ends here! All loose ends are laid to rest in this collection that ends the All Hail Megatron saga and sets the stage for big things to come for the Transformers!

Browse at Amazon.com | Browse at Amazon.co.uk

 

| Spotlights V4 | IDW Comics Guide | Last Stand of the Wreckers |

 
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